In support of CoP 21 Speech

By: Jeff McLaren

ABSTRACT:
Speech on Kingston's need to support the Paris Climate Agreement

The UN secretary general is like the CEO of the world.

Each nation is like an independent division of the firm – A firm that can be thought of as our western civilization.

Kingston is like one department in this giant world firm.

The latest word is that we need to change the way we do business; that our firm, our civilization, has been consuming our capital goods as if they were income goods!

This isn’t good; this is not sustainable; this will be the death of our firm, of any firm, of our civilization.

This is like a transport company that sells its trucks to make its quarterly earnings – ridiculous

What are our global firm’s Capital goods: those we need to produce and reproduce all aspects of life: our air, our water, our land, any of our non-renewable resources.

It is not a good long term prospect to be working in a company that is liquidating its capital assets; while we can jump from one firm to another inside our economy – our global firm cannot: there is no planet B – we can’t just replace a dirty atmosphere with a new one like we change a dirty filter with a clean filter.

We need to restructure our firm, our civilization, and every department must do its share – if we are to avoid bankruptcy – if we are to avoid the death of our civilization.

Our divisional heads, came together late last year in Paris to find a common way forward.

From that meeting a plan emerged: a plan to get us to solvency; but not profitability; a first necessary step; a plan to limit increases in GHG emissions: a plan to prepare us for the future – so eventually we can bring our global firm back to profitability; – and by profitability I mean creating and recreating all aspects of life sustainably without affecting future generations’ ability to produce and reproduce all aspects of their lives.

This plan is not the end; it is not even the end of the beginning – we are at the beginning of the beginning – the plan must be ratified and implemented.

This motion is 1st directed to our federal leaders, to remind and keep central the changes that need to be made to save our civilization AND to let them know we have their back – we agree: this is right.

We must never think that we have done enough. Resting on our laurels will not save our world; we must do more.

This motion is 2nd a call to do more… what more? This is a call on the experts on KEAF to work with experts on staff to see how we can do more – to see how we can exceed ourselves.

The race is not to see who can do the least – the race our department, that is Kingston, has chosen, by popular consensus, is to do the most; be the best – to be Canada’s most sustainable City.

Added on: Jan 26, 2016